Right. I have changed my oil and oilfilter as I should when I start up my bike after a long winter. The oil now used is 10W-40, like the mannual says,and the old oil was 15W-50. Now it seem to me that the engine has become somewhat more noisy that is was last year. Sounds like a slight rattle from the CC, also when warmed up.
Would a thicker oil like 20W-50 do any difference, and mike the engine run more scilent? And are there any dangers running on 20W-50 oil on our bikes ?

Selecting the right type of engine oil seems to some kind of rocket science...

 

Hey:

Noe when I lived in Norway, 20w 50 Mobil 1, was my oil of choice, only because, it was
the same oil I used in the Uk and USA, when I could not find it I used Motul, ELF, Shell or
Repsol and got the heaviest Multi Weights I could find in synthetic and changed it twice a year or
when ever it got a dirty look to it, but I changed the oil filter about every 4-5,000 kms
That bike was an air cooled Honda CBX and has over 300,000 kms on it now, which
when ever I used a lighter grade of oil the bike used it up quicker, and had lots more
noises, so I have stayed with heavier synthetic oil ever since, with no big oil related
problems. So just my .02 kroner but I think the heavier oil really helps the gearbox and
other mechanical things last longer, and shift better. My CBR drag bike in the Summer heat seems
to run hotter, the times I put 10w30 or 5w40, in so now I only use 15w40 or heavier oil.
I think summer humidity some how plays a role in how long the oil stays clean.

The only problem you would have is if you want to run 20w50 in the cold Scandanavian winters,
the times when its 0 Celsius or colder as its pretty thick then, the CBR owners manual recommends
this type of oil 20w 40, or 15/20w 50 from 0 C + and highly recommended after 30 C +.

Good Luck
Dub

 

The oil thread is finally hereI did use a fully synthetic 20W-50 on the Hurricane since it hada good appetite for oil. The engine was pushed very hard up to redline at many occasions on road and also attrack, and it showed no survivalproblem whatsoever. The cam lobes looked very good at inspection.

A fully synthetic 15W-40 feeds the currentBird, primarily because it is cheep, and Iwish tobelieve it is good oil to since a lot of racersalso are using it. It is the Swedish Biltema synthetic racing oil, which is produced by Statoil and cost about $ 10 per liters, i.e. 70 Swedish kronor. The oil does not contain anyviscosity index improvers, meaning there are no such additives that could be broken down by the gearbox. The old bike was also driven on this oil before I changed to20W-50 Motul 300V Competition, which was a total waist of money since it had to be topped very often.

The thinnerand cheaperalso has the advantage to flow better when cold, which could reduce wear during the critical cold start phase.

Bottom line, use whateverreputed bike oil you feel for as long as it is changed reasonable frequently.

 

Thanx guys

What are your opinions on Mineral vs. Semi synthetic vs. full synthetic ?

I havn't got the slightest idea. Mymechanic say's that I should use semi synthetic, others say something different...

And what is the difference between a lets say 20W-50 oil in mineral, 20W-50 semi synthetic and a 20W-50 full synthrtic???

 

If you run the engine to the extreme it is better protected with a full synth oil than a mineral oil. For more normal driving there is no major advantage compared to mineral as long as you change the mineral frequently. There are also never any disadvantages using a full synth, except for the pricing, any one saying something different is transferring myhts. A semi-synth oil could be better than a mineral, or be worth nothing extra compared to a mineral, it depends in the percentage of synthetic relative mineral oil. If you Google "synthetic vs. mineral oil" and similar phrases,you will have a lot to read during the coming weekend. And dont take myopinionsas hardfacts, it just my personal belief.

 

Well my bike lives 90 percent of the time below 5000 rpm... I live en the center of Copenhagen and uses the bike to school on a daily basis, so it only gets reved hard on a sunday blast around the country side.

 

Then a mineral will do perfectly fine for you, and you could as well havean earliyHonda CB 750 CC that are optimized for low revsif you most are mostly below 5000 rpm:-)

 

if you have the time and really want to learn about different oils...check out
www.bobistheoilguy.com
lots of great information there...and on the TMI side...but good to know and great reference.

 

Hey:

Noe, I feel the same as r1000 and that the only disadvantage to full synthetic is the cost.
Now I have had a clutch or 2 slip when adding synthetic to a bike before, that had used dino only,
but feel it was no issue as it was ok after adding higher rate clutch springs in 1 and replaced worn
clutch fibers and added higher rate clutch springs in the other, with no slippage after the changes.

I also feel that there are only 2 real world major advantages of synthetic, one is they are better
able to deal with extremes like heat and hi revs, the other which to me is as or more important
is that unlike non or semi they leave no residue or sludge in the motor after years and many miles
of use and seem to keep the engine cleaner and not allow corrosion when not in use, or in
stowage. I think dino is great for break in periods but has no advantage after that first 1-2 k.
In my own personal experience, in my CBX after 150,000 miles, I took the motor apart
recently and it looked like, a new engine inside, still clean, no brown crud build up, no ash,
no grime. I also have a CBX engine with only 10,000 miles, that has used dino only and
has ash on the pistons and a brown tar like residue in it and if I did not know before hand that
this was the motor with 10,000 on it I would have thought they were switched. This is not the
first time I have seen this and to me would be a great selling point that is not touted as much
as the other claims which are sometimes easier to prove on a dyno, and easier to sell to
the hi performance public, more horsepower, better fuel mileage, and longer lasting.
I also feel that if you change the filter more often and use a synthetic, the oil stays cleaner
and last longer but that just my own feelings.

Good luck on your search for the best oil, I hope this helped you in someway.
Dub

 

Thanx guys!